The Ups and Downs

Thursday started off with a pretty frustrating session. One of those days where the short stack has KK when you have QQ and you can't hit your open ended straight flush draws. I still played great poker and was able to minimize the losses. The second session I came back strong and was able to bring my loss on the day to only -$9. I did this in 2536 hands and cleared $37 in bonus money. I fell about 150 points show of the 2000 needed to get the full weekly UB bonus, but still made $92 from that promotion. Hopefully, I'll be able to get enough points next week to get the highest conversion rate.

For the week I've been running this blog I feel it's painted a pretty good picture of what a poker pro can expect in a week. I've had some ups and some downs, but I've taken them all in stride and usually come out ahead. You're not going to win every day. Heck, you might not win every week or even month. You will probably lose a higher percentage of your sessions than you did as a semi pro. This may surprise some people, but it makes perfect sense. When you play semi pro you're only playing at the times when you're very excited about poker. When you are in this state you drastically improve your chances of a win. You should be at this level most of the time when you play pro, but there will be times when it does in fact....gasp....feel like a job.

This phenomenon can make a new pro second guess themselves when they lose a little bit more often then they are used to. It's just something you get used to. Do your best to keep that same excitement you've always had for the game, but forgive yourself if you slip up every once in a while. Beating yourself up over your mistakes can be just as bad as not knowing you made them.

As for today I decided to take the day off. I played some 4 on 4 football, saw an amazing stand up comedy show, had a few drinks at some bars, and am now watching a movie while writing this entry. It's easy to get in a rut where you end up playing poker everyday of the week. While we all love poker, and deep down wish we could play 24/7, this really isn't the healthiest approach to the game. Make sure you take some personal time every week, it will ensure you don't get burned out.

Bankroll: $2234
Hands played this week: 8928
Bonus cleared this week: $227
Hands played this month: 12,357
Bonus/rakeback this month: $280/$1300